A Worcester woman is counting her blessings after she came face to face with a man who broke into her home.
That incident was caught on her surveillance camera and now that suspect is behind bars and facing several charges.
And police say this isn’t the first time he’s been in trouble with the law.
“I thought that was it for me and kids. I didn’t know if he was coming in to kill us, to do something to us, if he was going to rob us.”
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They were terrifying moments for Stephanie and her kids. A man broke into her townhouse on Country Club Boulevard in Worcester moments before she was heading to bed.
That brief image captured by her motion sensor camera. She says that system notified her of movement outside.
“I was at the top of the stairs and he just busted right through the door with a hammer and a bat in each hand. He had said he wasn’t going to hurt me, that he was running from someone who was chasing him with a gun,” Stephanie said.
That’s when she says the kids woke up and she ran with them to her bedroom, closed the door and called 911.
“I actually have a lot of bruising here on my arm, a very large bruise and my arms have been very sore to lift because I was using all my force to block my door.” Stephanie said.
Everything happened Friday early morning around 1 a.m.
Worcester police arrested 42-year-old Joshua Paul of Grafton with a baseball bat and hammer in hand. Stephanie says while they’re all physically OK, her kids are still dealing with the trauma.
“They’re afraid to go anywhere in the house alone because there are three floors. They want someone with them at all times, they don’t want to be alone.”
According to court documents, Paul broke into another home minutes before Stephanie’s, that’s where police say he stole the weapons.
They also say he has a lengthy criminal record. Most recently he was arrested in 2023 for breaking and entering, vandalizing property and drug possession.
“I hope this time because they were children involved that they put him away long enough and not just give him a slap on the wrist and let him go and then he does it again,” Stephanie, said.
Paul faces several charges including burglary and remains behind bars.
He will be back in court in May.
